What could a teacher's website include?
- School information
- Syllabus
- Schedules/Calendars
- Expectations and/or Conduct code
- Assignments
- Grades
- Archive of documents, files, etc.
- News and events
- Upcoming events
- Newsletters
- Links
- Online resources for students
- Resources for parents
- Activities for students
- Lesson ideas for other teachers
- Contact information (email, phone number)
- Student work
- Actual projects such as PowerPoint presentations, webpages, etc.
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The World Wide Web is one of the most effective communications technologies today. A teacher’s website has certainly a lot of functionalities. Websites can expand opportunities for students and maybe also parents to communicate with them and become more informed about some topics relevant to their lessons and in the case of parents; they can be informed more on the education that their children are getting. Through websites, teachers can also share ideas with other teachers and if they want, make them available even to everyone else. Websites can be used with students by adding pages for different students/classes to feed them with information or publish their own work or links to their projects. One can also get students to create their own home pages and use the range of resources to help support their learning. Things like the ‘to do list’ can help to set learning goals and remember homework. Sticky web notes can be used in helping students remember new vocabulary words and definitions for example. Teachers may even post the lesson plan so that students can know the topics in advance if they want to. In their websites, teachers can also post a topic for discussion and ask the students to submit their reaction using the electronic forum as their homework.
ReplyDeleteA teacher’s website is definitely one of the most effective and cheapest technologies to foster communication among students, parents, teachers, and school officials. Developing an effective website takes time and resources but if done right, the benefits are enormous. Of course, the website should not be perceived as replacement to face-to-face interactions. It certainly does provide convenience especially to students, but it cannot replace the warmth and effectiveness of face-to-face interaction.
If I had to create my own website I would include the majority of the above sections however I would also include a section with the articles. This section will be divided into two: the articles that the teacher posts for the students to read and also it should have the facility to let the students share any articles/ documents/websites which they found interesting.
ReplyDeleteAll assignments will be accessible online. Another feature that I would add is the possibility of a 'forum' where students can actually have the chance to show their feedback about the lecutres and ideas about the topic discussing at the moment.
The more interactive the teacher's website is, the more interesting it is for the student to access on a more frequent basis.
When I was reading this blog I was thinking what I would add to my website and how I will structure my website. I do not think that I have an objective idea of how I would structure my site since at our institute we use Moodle and all of the items mentioned by Carlo can be included in Moodle.
ReplyDeleteShould I Create a Personal Website with all the material or a website dedicated to Module?
In Moodle, we have all the modules that we teach and all the material is in that section. In Moodle there are a number of functionalities which are very interesting and can enhance your teaching which in a personal website most probably you won’t have such as Forums (un less you use a third party application) and are very easy to add and maintain. Maintenance of the site is also difficult though there are a number of free solutions you can use such as WordPress and Weebly
I think that a teacher's website should not include material specific to the courses that that teacher is delivering or has delivered in the past. The point of centralization has already been mentioned by James. If students have 8 different modules during a particular academic year, this means that 8 different teachers' websites will contain all the different course materials. This is of course not a desirable situations, and sophisticated software is already available to remedy to this situation. Moodle and Blackboard are two of the most popular.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, a teacher's website can contain material or tutorials on the topics that the teacher is specialized on. In such a way, the audience (not just students) can refer to this material when needed. I look at a teacher's website as a portfolio of work rather than a tool that is directed to help students in their studies. Like James said, trying to use a personal website to help students will decentralize the course material, and end up complicating matters for students rather than simplifying them.
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Christian Calleja
IICT Lecturer
I think that the different opinions expressed here reflect the different experiences we have as teachers - in that we teach at different institutes which do not run in the same manner using similar (if not the same) systems.
ReplyDeleteSince we started the e-Learning Module, I have experienced an increased desire to shift my resources, assignments and other tools online. Though I'm still a bit green, I am definitely more conversant than I was before. Upon reading Carlo's post I thought that a teacher website would be a very good solution to gathering all resources together - though this could practically be done through a blog too.
On the other hand, upon reading James' and Christian's replies, I realised that since they come from IICT, their experiences are very different. I guess I would also view teachers' websites as decentralising actions rather than organising content due to the fact that Moodle is used at IICT.
One clear question springs to mind now that a vast number of lecturers have read for the PGC in VET, including this module. Why not set up Moodle access to all lecturers in all institutes who WOULD LIKE to use it without enforcing anyone to do so? I think that there would be a very good number of us who would rather gather notes, presentations, links in one page which is easily maintained.
That would be great website however I would include a guestbook, feedback form ,comment forum or blog so that I would gain students ideas to improve my teaching and website information.
ReplyDeleteThis would help me to know where I am standing regarding the information that is given on the website. It would be also important to be a user friendly website and not so complicated like some of the websites you will find on the net.
I agree with Christian. I think it would be very important for the website to include some sort of feedback form where students and other teachers could comment and give suggestions on the information provided. Also it could be a place where students and teacher share and reflect on past or coming lessons, as to improve them. It definately should be an interactive website.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with moodle in our case could be that since a particular lecturer is responsible of updating the module notes and material all other lecturers have to wait for that particular coordinator to update the material or else include answers or solutions of a particular worksheet. Sometimes it happened to me that students were asking and complaining that solutions were not in moodle and I had to chase the coordinator to upload the required material. A website could serve also maybe to add additional exercises and additional notes etc which are not present in moodle. The idea of a feedback form is also valid. Feedback can be submitted on a particular lecturer for example how the module is being delivered and how this can be improved etc.
ReplyDelete@Carlo
ReplyDeleteThat problem could be easily solved by having more people who would have access to edit and upload new material to the unit. I agree with Chris Calleja as having multiple websites would become counterproductive to the student. For anything moodle helps the teacher organise himself and structure his material into separate weeks.
Thank got there's moodle as I can find all material neatly laid out online, rather than having to rummage through files full of inordered papers the following year.